Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road is an infusion of adrenaline. It delivers non-stop, action, and still makes time to show well-developed characters. This strange trip into a world of vehicular carnage, fast cars, bone-crunching crashes, memorable characters, and stunning visuals is not easily forgotten.
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, “Mad” Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) encounters a group of women attempting to escape from their captors. He is reluctant to help. Plagued with memories of the people he failed in the past, Max eventually agrees to aid Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) escape from the ever-increasing army of gearhead lunatics on their tail.
This movie reminds me why the original Mad Max films have been ripped off so many times. A world that's managed to survive at the expense of sanity has a certain appeal. This time, however, it's different. When we usually visit the post-apocalypse, everything is either feral, covered in shit, or on fire. The people who've survived are all jerks except for the few innocents who remain and cannibalism runs amuck. Holding onto hope is foolish. Even if you can make it through the day, civilization's gone down the toilet. Fury Road features a functioning world. There are plenty of cars, there’s water, food, even ammunition. People survived through the lawless wild west. This is that time period again, cranked to 11 with a few extreme weather patterns and some lingering radiation. Things wouldn't be so bad if the people in charge weren't all power-hungry dictators or brazen maniacs. It's not "mad" in the sense that it's angry. It's "mad" as in insane.
It's an insane asylum crossed with a junkyard and a chop-shop but what you see make sense once you get settled in. The masks and makeup, cars covered in spikes, exploding spears, and bizarre characters tell us what this world is like. They give us a glimpse into the religions that have developed, the way those in power keep the rest under control, the different warring tribes, commerce, vehicles, and weapons that have evolved since the world turned to ruin. How do you keep a fleet of road-ripping cars focused on their goal and ready to tear anything in their path to shreds? With war drums. Not just any kind of drums; 4 drummers on the back of an 18-wheeler with speakers blasting their beat so loud you'd be a fool not to be intimidated. Just to be sure, they're the background music to the main spectacle: an electric guitar-player who instrument shoots flames. You'd have to be crazy to stand in the way of that kind of power.
This movie delivers everything you want in terms of action and visuals. Vehicles are reduced to scrap, there's fire and shrapnel throughout. The fights are long, well-shot, and creative. We also get surprisingly well-developed characters. Furiosa and the women she’s rescuing are all different from each other. The longer you stay with them, the more you understand how they've managed to survive and what's pushed them to take this ultimate gamble. You desperately want Max to crack through the armor he's built for himself and get involved like you are. Together, they might just have what it takes to make this escape happen. Through it all, this understanding of them makes the story that much more intense and engaging.
It’s got strong female characters, great villains, and some of the best action I’ve seen in a long time. If you haven’t seen the original films, this one stands on its own well but I recommend you check out the others first. What you see seems so much more spectacular when you see how it all began in terms of world-building but also of filmmaking techniques. If you are already a fan and you’re hesitant to check it out because you think it’ll upset the franchise you already love, don't worry. George Miller has been watching people imitate his films for 30 years. He’s back to show us all how it's really done. Watch it. You can thank me afterward. Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the best films of 2015. You'll be drawn back to it over and over. (2-D Theatrical version on the big screen, June 17, 2015)
